Fire tears through historic building

Associated Press

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio

Firefighters were called to a large blaze that tore through a historic building that once served as a poorhouse and later as the home of a Bible college.

The Mount Vernon News reports that firefighters from Mount Vernon about an hour east of Columbus responded to the fire Friday at the 19th century building in the nearby village of Bangs.

The Victorian structure once served as a county poorhouse and home for the mentally ill before it was purchased by Mount Vernon Bible College in the 1950s.

After the school relocated to Virginia, the building served for a time as a haunted house attraction.